


You make me a Believer

by Eleanor_Bennet (Eleonor_Bennet)



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Choices, F/M, Feelings, Investigations, Post-Devil Face Reveal to Chloe Decker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 16:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15934361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleonor_Bennet/pseuds/Eleanor_Bennet
Summary: A mysterious case puts Chloe in a peculiar position. She starts a journey between faith, friendship, love, loyalty and fears. It won't be an easy one, at all.(Or, in other terms, just a speculation on season 4)





	You make me a Believer

 

"Destiny... What a nice word for something so indefinite and yet so powerful. 

_Destiny_. What's destiny for us? Is it the reason you're now sitting here, instead of being somewhere else? The reason why you talked to someone, just a few minutes ago, instead of being home alone? Is it the reason two souls meet at some point of their lives? The reason you changed your everyday road and avoided a mortal incident or a vase falling from a balcony?"

The small crowd, composedly seated, started to smile; someone even dared to laugh a little at the last words. 

"Yes, yes you're laughing at these cliche. But just think about it. Think about every time you did a choice, and then it revealed as the most right thing you ever did. Or the worst, because you know... This force can be cruel, too."

Silent fell again in the small, asphyxiating room, all eyes focused on the man speaking with fervor.

"Think about it, and you'll understand how many times the reason you're in a place, the reason you're with someone, the reason why you're still alive is, simply, because of this powerful _thing_. Someone call it _magic_ , someone call it _destiny_. I call it..."

Oh, pause of effect. The man was good at captivating people.

"...God's will."

The crowd was in awe. Some ladies happily nodded, with their expression full of awareness, as if they already knew from the beginning where the man had wanted to bring his speech. It was predictable, actually, but hey... **_"Let them be happy with this"_** , a blonde, bored detective thought. 

"Oh... Now you don't laugh anymore, mh? I'll leave you with this question: how many times you followed His will, without even know it? And how many times you didn't thank Him? God has His marvelous ways to fill our lives. Maybe the time to thank Him even for what you were too blind to recognize, has come!"

With a wink, the priest sat at his pompous chair and after some interminable minutes of silence, he finally continued the mass and put an end to the sharade. 

When the words _"You can go in peace"_ resonated in the church, Chloe sighed heavily and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. 

"Finally..." 

Some old ladies glared at her, murmuring some unintelligible words that could maybe be rehired in _"Ungrateful young people"_ , but she couldn't care less. Chloe actually hated churches, and hated functions even more. 

There was something about them that gave her chills. All the people repeating the same words, with the same voice intonation, and then the chants and more words... It was creepy, somehow. She'd never been the kind of girl who went to church every Sunday, nor the one fascinated by religion in general. And the last time she stepped in a sacred place hadn't been pleasant at all, since it had been her father's funeral. Her marriage'd been civil, despite Dan's protests, and Trixie was never baptized - despite Dan's protests, again. Chloe never had something against religion, in general. She simply didn't approve all the rites and absurd convictions. Her mind was too rational to understand the divine, and even now that - somehow - she was forced to believe in that sort of things, she was skeptical. 

So, the fact that she was now in a church was strange, considering her standards. 

"Miss?"

A manly voice startled her, interrupting her train of thoughts. The detective hadn't even realized that, while thinking about her not-so-religious life, the place had gone quiet. Gone were the old ladies, gone the organist, gone everyone except her. And the man who was now scrutinizing her with creepy attention. His blue-greyish eyes were so piercing, they seem to burn Chloe's soul.

Their color reminded her the solid mountain stones: fascinating in all their ancient glory, but scary at the same time. As if, while admiring their beauty, you don't realize they started rolling down, and suddenly you find yourself crushed beneath their weight. The thought made the detective's skin crawl; a long, terrible chill ran down her spine leaving her almost breathless.

Yes. She definitely didn't like priests, as well as churches. 

"Ah, yes" The woman cleared her throat, smoothing her leather jacket "Detective Chloe Decker. The LAPD received a call from here, and someone asked specifically for me?" 

The priest approached her, a mysterious awe in his eyes grew at any step he took in her direction.

"That was me, yes. Your fame precedes you, Detective."

"Fame?" That confused her. Of course she was known, in LA, but definitely not this much because of her recent career. And it was actually a little weird if a priest knew her hot past, right? 

The man gave her a hint of a smile, finally stopping just few feet away from her.

"Fame, exactly. I mean, as far as I know, you solved quite a good amount of murders. That's why I asked for you to solve this... Problem, if we can call it like this." 

A _problem_. Not a murder, apparently, since the church was definitely neat from dead bodies. Why do priests had to talk this cryptically? She was an officer on duty, and she definitely didn't have time for riddles. Her desk was full of papers still waiting for her check, and another case still had to be closed. Since she was essentially working alone, lately, Chloe was overwhelmed by work. And she was grateful, if she had to be honest, because work distracted her from thoughts bigger than anything else. Thoughts like _**"I'm actually in one of the so called God's houses, and He's actually up there, along with all his children - except my..."**_

Her nostrils widened while taking a deep breath, trying to avoid the "Devil matter". She was in a church, after all, and even if she knew it was absurd, the fear of being burned alive because she was still worshipping the actual Devil (even if he didn't know it... Yet) was very much there. 

"And... What's this problem?" 

Enough with the small talk. Chloe just wanted to know why _her fame_ had convinced this priest to call her, so that she could walk outside that creepy place and go home. 

Instead of answering her, the man walked down the not so long aisle, all the while looking upside. "You see? We recently restored the roof, as well as some walls." He moved his right hand as to show her what he was talking about.

The detective's eyes only then noticed the more recent finishing touches: fresh polished wooden roof, the wall behind the altar whiter than the ones at both her sides, new benches between other clearly older, a new, shining organ. But still, she didn't see the point of it all. It was, at her eyes, just a restoration - and not the finest one, if she had to be honest. -

"This was an abandoned church, in the last few years. The neighborhood rebelled, somehow, and we managed to obtain some funds to open it again. The power of people..." He sighed, turning to her with a huge smile. But it was a smile that didn't reach his icy eyes, and again Chloe shivered. 

"Yeah, amazing, I suppose." She muttered under her breath, then cleared her throat "But why exactly am I here?"

Suddenly, the priest grew serious. He was now in front of the first of the three steps that led on the altar, and he was now scrutinizing it with a frown. "Something happened here. Something... Bad. And I want to know why."

The detective was about to talk again, but he didn't give her time. His eyes moved again on her small figure, a dark worry clearly written in them. "Why a _murder_ , in God's house." His tone was so final, so theatrical that Chloe had to collect all her strength to not burst in laughs. 

"Murder? Here? What makes you think that? Did you find a body? Or at least blood or... some evidence?" 

The priest rummaged in one of his pockets, then approached her carefully and handed her a small plastic bag. Chloe eyed it suspiciously, an eyebrow raised up in a skeptical way "A... piece of cloth?"

He nodded "Exactly. A very fine one, if I may be honest. Brutally ripped from the rest of what might have been a vest, or something similar, I suppose... But it's not the only evidence I can show you."

The detective's irritation was growing faster than ever. The man was excruciatingly slow, as if he wanted to create some sort of suspense that clearly wasn't necessary.

"What else do you have, then?" 

She didn't mean to be so rough, but the incense smoke still lingering in the air, those pale lights and all the statues and sculptures and crosses were causing her a very unpleasant dizziness. For the nth time, the man didn't reply immediately. He walked, instead, behind the altar, then kneeled down and re-emerged after just a few seconds with some papers - in a plastic bag, as well as the grey cloth -. 

"These. Pages of some... book. And not a common one." 

The pages were clearly smeared in blood, but words were still readable. She didn't recognize from which sacred books they could've come from. But again, she wasn't well-versed in that kind of readings at all. 

As if understanding her confusion, the priest spoke again. "They're not part of the Bible, nor of any of the four Gospels. But they clearly are referring to Christian's most common topics... Heaven, Hell, Angels, Devil, God, _Miracles_..."

He marked the last word, but Chloe was too focused on the previous terms he'd said to pay attention. She was so desperately trying to avoid the moment in which she had to come to terms with the new reality she was now in. The scarred face of his partner came inevitably to her mind, giving her the now too familiar chills and confusion. Her breath became heavier, her vision blurry, her heart started pounding hard in her chest. 

Everything became just a secondary noise, fog clouded her brain. The word _Devil_ resonated in her mind, again and again and again, and she couldn't stop it. Imagines of her partner in his perfectly pressed suit mixed with the red, terrible, burned face of the Devil.

"Detective Decker?"

The priest called her. Once. Twice. Then, gently, he shook her arm. 

"Sorry... What were you saying?" Chloe came hardly back to reality, little drops of sweat beaded her forehead. 

"Are you okay?" He seemed genuinely worried about her well being, so for the first time that afternoon, she smiled to him. Just a little. 

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just... Thinking about how to start with the investigation. I have to officially open the case and then..." The priest lifted his right hand to hush her, a very serious expression on his not-so-old face. 

"No, no one can know about this."

"But you called the LAPD, there's..."

"Just because I clearly didn't have your personal number, detective. As I told you, I want you and only you on this. Your expertise in the murders' field is huge, I won't trust anyone else."

He was nervous, and this made Chloe suspicious. Even in her current state, she could smell something was terribly wrong in all this situation. A priest called the department, asked for her, then basically begged her to keep the investigation private to the world? And why didn't he ask for help sooner? Just when he had found those cryptic proofs?

Yes. Something was odd, she could tell. And for a moment - a single, brief moment - the fear of her partner's identity being known by someone else became too real for her tastes. The way the priest talked to her, looked at her definitely told her he knew something more than what he was showing her now. Come on, the coincidences were too many! But it was also absurd, because how on Earth a priest from LA suburbs could've ever known about Lucifer?

She forced herself to focus on the most plausible things. 

_Yes_ , maybe he was hiding something.

_Yes_ , she definitely would've discovered what, exactly.

_No_ , her partner's identity had nothing to do with all of this, because it was simply impossible.

_Yes_ , she was about to accept the case because her sense of justice mixed dangerously with her curiosity. But she would've investigate in her own way. 

"Do you have anything else?"

The priest exhaled loudly, as if he'd been afraid, 'til then, about her reaction.

**_"Added on the list of weird behavior"_** \- she thought.

"No. Nothing else, Detective. Will you help me? And please shut up about the matter? I don't want people to worry... They made a huge effort to make this church live again. I don't want them to be afraid..."

And there it was, again, _the preacher_. Full of sentiment and ardor, all concerned about _his people_. Chloe clearly didn't believe him. But she was good at acting, too. So she plastered a reassuring smile on her face and simply nodded.

"Ok, I'll help you. And I'll be as discrete as possible. I'll give you some news as soon as I'll examine these evidences."

"Thank you!"

He uttered, clearly satisfied. 

After one last smile, the detective turned on her heels and walked to the door. Just when she was about to open it, she stopped, frowning. "Father?"

The man, already kneeled in front of the altar, looked at her. "Yes?"

"I just realized... I still don't know your name."

Relief flooded once again on the man's face, whose smile could have lit the entire church - not a bad idea, actually. 

"Kinley... Father Kinley."

She nodded, flashing a smile in his direction.

Then, finally, everything became fresh air and bright light and city rumors and _reality_. 

What was she starting, she didn't know. She just hoped to close this strange case as soon as possible, without having to think about too much about religion and all that weird, serious stuff. 

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go!  
> Insecure more than ever about this, I just hope it will have sense for you, too, as it has in my mind :')  
> Kudos, comments and critics will be appreciated now, more than ever!


End file.
